Abstract
THE night lasts for 16J hours in the latitude of London at the time of the winter solstice on December 22. The moon is full on December 7 and new on December 21. The moon's altitude when southing at Greenwich on December 8d 0h 27m U.T. is 58|°. No star brighter than mag. 5£ is occulted during the month. Conjunctions between the moon and planets occur as follows: December 3d 2h, Saturn: 17d 7h, Mars: 18d 16h, Venus: 20d 14h, Mercury: 27d 0h, Jupiter: 30d II11, Saturn. On December 5 there is a fairly close approach between the moon and Uranus, actually resulting in an occultation of the latter as seen from parts of Asia and North America. Jupiter and Saturn are both evening stars. At about 18Jh on the following dates, the four inner satellites are grouped fairly closely to Jupiter, being easily seen in a pair of binoculars: December ld (Satellite I occulted), 2d, 10d (Satellite IV occulted.,17d, 18d, 19d, 25d to 28d. Mercury, Venus and Mars are all morning stars. In mid-December, Venus rises about 5h; it is at its greatest brilliancy (mag. - 4*4) on December 26. The variable star, Algol, is well placed for observation during the month. The approximate times of primary minima accessible to observation are on December 2d 4*5h, 5d l*3h, 7d 22*lh, 10d 19-0h, 25d 3*lh, 27d 23*9h, 30d 20*7h. On or about December 11 the Geminid meteors are at their maximum. In the middle of the month at midnight, there is a fine array of bright stars on the southern meridian.
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The Night Sky in December. Nature 142, 950 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/142950b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/142950b0